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DirecTV upgrading to HD

I currently have DirecTV, paying about $70/mo for the CHOICE package and I'm out of my contract with DirecTV. I have a very simple set up. I just have the one SD receiver in the living room, I have that split off to run to my bedroom and office via coax cable. I can only watch one channel, but this doesn't bother me since I can't be in the living room and the office at the same time. I rarely even watch TV in the office or bedroom, so having it split is not a big deal for me.

I have an old CRT TV in the living room, it doesn't support HD, so when I ordered DirecTV several years ago, I had no reason to get the HD receiver.

I'm considering getting a new flat screen TV for the living room, that will support HD. If I upgraded my DirecTV to an HD receiver, what all would that cost me? Is there an extra fee just for enabling HD content? I don't really want to pay more than the $70/mo that I'm already paying.

I don't really have the need for a DVR or the Genie receiver. I suppose having the ability to record a show might be nice, but if the Genie receiver is going to add on to my monthly fee, then I'm not interested in it.

Can I upgrade through DirecTV to get a new HD receiver? Will having the HD receiver increase my monthly cost? I figure I'll have to reup my contract with DirecTV, which isn't a problem as long as the pricing stays the same.

Or would I be better off buying an HD receiver from Ebay or something and purchasing a new card from DirecTV (I think that's a one time $20 fee?)

Currently I'm paying about $65 for the CHOICE package. My bill has a $6 receiver rent fee, but then has a -$6 fee to counter the receiver fee. The rest of the fees are taxes, doesn't quite add up to $70, but pretty close.

I figured real-world experience on this forum might be better than what customer service representatives might try to sell me.

Much to the disdain of many there is an $10.00 monthly access fee for HD programming, however DIRECTV may even offer a waiver deal on this at least for the first so many months of a new one year commitment for a non-DVR HD receiver.

Also keep in mind a fee increase is coming for DIRECTV service to all subscribers in February which you need to consider as well. Even though it may take place after any deals DIRECTV may offer you as introductory discounts to your new one year commitment.

You could possibly upgrade for a zero cost. When I upgraded from SD I had 2 receivers. I got a new dish, new coax, HD receiver and an HD DVR and I had to pay $99 for it all.

Very pleased with the HD. Your eyes will thank you for changing.

With the DVR you can record 2 shows and watch one that was previously recorded. There are a lot of shows that I like that come on at the same time and it is a big plus for me to be able to record them and watch them the next night.

This is probably true. It's one reason why I don't have a DVR. Once you get one, you probably won't be able to live without it. So as long as I don't know what I'm not missing, I'll be alright.

HD service adds $10 to your bill.

DVR service, SD or HD, adds another $10.

This is copied from my recent bill:

01/03 02/02 Advanced Receiver-HD Monthly 10.00

01/03 02/02 Advanced Receiver-DVR Monthly 10.00

You could possibly upgrade for a zero cost. When I upgraded from SD I had 2 receivers. I got a new dish, new coax, HD receiver and an HD DVR and I had to pay $99 for it all.

Very pleased with the HD. Your eyes will thank you for changing.

So there's really no way to get completely out of the $10/mo HD fee? I thought customer retention might be able to waive that fully but from what I'm reading here, they would only waive it for a few months.

I thought Dish Network offered free HD for life. Although going through their site, I found this little nugget: HD Free For 24 Mo (reg $10). So with Dish is "life" equal to about 24 months?

This is probably true. It's one reason why I don't have a DVR. Once you get one, you probably won't be able to live without it. So as long as I don't know what I'm not missing, I'll be alright.

So there's really no way to get completely out of the $10/mo HD fee? I thought customer retention might be able to waive that fully but from what I'm reading here, they would only waive it for a few months.

I thought Dish Network offered free HD for life. Although going through their site, I found this little nugget: HD Free For 24 Mo (reg $10). So with Dish is "life" equal to about 24 months?

Call and see what they can offer you, you do not have to do anything when you call, just check it out.

Lots of times they offer you multiple discounts for a few months. I call them about every 6 months to see if there are any discounts I could get. Sometimes it is a little bit and sometimes it is a lot.

Dish and DTV were doing HD free for life at one time, then it was 24 months, then 12 months and now I do not know, especially with Dish.

I've had HD for over nine years and a DVR for over six years. And I wouldn't go back to SD or no recording capability at all. If m provider, currently FiOS, raised their rates too high I would first check out DirecTV again. If their rates were too high I would buy a TiVO. I do get excellent OTA reception here.

It is on a case by case but when I upgraded to HD I was out of contract and they waved the 10$ HD fee for the first year and I got the HD DVR at no cost. It dose start a two year contract so get as much as you can.

Call retention to see what kind of deal you can get to reduce your bill. They will offer you some pretty good deals I bet. More then you will get if you just try to get out of the HD fee. I know they have a $15 off for 15 months deal or $15 off for 12 months, free DVR for a year and free HD for a year as well. Then you can upgrade probably free and have it all for a year. The trick is getting to retention. Call the 800 number and say cancel. It will ask you something and you say cancel, if it transfers right through then you probably wont get retention but if it says something else, you are on the right track. Let us know what you decide.

The other guy's promotion of FHDFL has expired. Now they offer something similar to what DIRECTV has been offering since their short burst (2-3 months?) of FHDFL.

You would need to confirm one way or the other, but an HD DVR may cost you a $25/month Advanced Receiver Fee. New customers have to pay it and I'm suspicious existing customers who upgraded to HD DVR may as well. If you go this route, knowing what happened would provide a useful data point. Know that the HD equipment does NOT provide a RF modulated output for your other TVs so you'll need to acquire a modulator.

Note that HD and/or SD DVR upgrades fetch a 24 month commitment as opposed to the 12 month term for SD receivers.

It is interesting to note that DIRECTV is interested enough in getting the Genie out there that they no longer advertise discounts on HD DVRs for new customers. The part about the Advanced Receiver Fee with a HD DVR is icing on that cake.

Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. -- JFK

This is probably true. It's one reason why I don't have a DVR. Once you get one, you probably won't be able to live without it. So as long as I don't know what I'm not missing, I'll be alright.

So there's really no way to get completely out of the $10/mo HD fee? I thought customer retention might be able to waive that fully but from what I'm reading here, they would only waive it for a few months.

I thought Dish Network offered free HD for life. Although going through their site, I found this little nugget: HD Free For 24 Mo (reg $10). So with Dish is "life" equal to about 24 months?

Nope, that is DirecTV's bread and butter...

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels.
The the troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things different.
They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.

Call retention to see what kind of deal you can get to reduce your bill. They will offer you some pretty good deals I bet. More then you will get if you just try to get out of the HD fee. I know they have a $15 off for 15 months deal or $15 off for 12 months, free DVR for a year and free HD for a year as well. Then you can upgrade probably free and have it all for a year. The trick is getting to retention. Call the 800 number and say cancel. It will ask you something and you say cancel, if it transfers right through then you probably wont get retention but if it says something else, you are on the right track. Let us know what you decide.

It could be a while before I do anything. I was just curious as to how all of this might play out. I'd like for my current TV to die so I can justify getting a new one.

The other guy's promotion of FHDFL has expired. Now they offer something similar to what DIRECTV has been offering since their short burst (2-3 months?) of FHDFL.

You would need to confirm one way or the other, but an HD DVR may cost you a $25/month Advanced Receiver Fee. New customers have to pay it and I'm suspicious existing customers who upgraded to HD DVR may as well. If you go this route, knowing what happened would provide a useful data point. Know that the HD equipment does NOT provide a RF modulated output for your other TVs so you'll need to acquire a modulator.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I figured the HD reciever would have the coax out that I could use to feed the other TVs. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, otherwise I would have just gone on my own assumption.

Nope, that is DirecTV's bread and butter...

Well, I'm at least comforted to some extent knowing that Dish's Free HD for life is no longer active. I didn't know they had ended that. So basically, it turns out if you want HD, you're going to have to pay for it no matter which TV provider you go with (although, one might offer X more months free over the other). Still not too thrilled with the idea of having to pay extra for HD, it seems like its just kind of a bogus "because we can" charge. But if they're all doing it, that means one's not necessarily better than the other.

Well, I'm at least comforted to some extent knowing that Dish's Free HD for life is no longer active. I didn't know they had ended that. So basically, it turns out if you want HD, you're going to have to pay for it no matter which TV provider you go with (although, one might offer X more months free over the other). Still not too thrilled with the idea of having to pay extra for HD, it seems like its just kind of a bogus "because we can" charge. But if they're all doing it, that means one's not necessarily better than the other.

Not sure if this applies to DISH, but at least the good thing about DirecTV is that the HD fee covers all HD and HD DVR receivers you have in your account, unlike most cable companies which charges more a more for an HD receiver. this might be good for folks like yourself with just one HD receiver, but def not good for folks like myself with 6 HDDVRs.

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels.
The the troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things different.
They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.

Some providers say they have free HD, but they just move the charge really. Time Warner says HD is free, but an HD receiver is $10 a month, and I don't think the first one is credited like DirecTV does. So they charge $10 for each HD receiver and $22 for each DVR.